ABSTRACT
The commercialisation of the Internet is an integral part of business conduct today, providing an essential channel for the sale of products and services. However, during the early days of online commercialisation, there was common speculation that traditional retail was dead and that all retailers would go virtual. Investors ocked towards dot.com stocks on the premise that a new economy was emerging where established organisations, with their inherent structural rigidity and reluctance to embrace change, could not compete with more nimble Internet startups, founded on embracing e-commerce.
